I always thought it was comical how the WWF filed lawsuits when Scott Hall and Kevin Nash showed up in WCW. While there was definitely some sleight of hand as it were when it comes to how they were promoted initially, all anyone needed to do to see the absurdity of legal action was to go back and watch some Scott Hall matches prior to his initial WWF run. And that’s what were going to do today with a fantastic SQUASH of the Week!
Hall’s opponent today would be one TC Carter. This would be notable because one of Hall’s first personas was that of “Magnum” Scott Hall, in reference to the TV character Magnum PI. Now on that show as I recall, Magnum had a helicopter pilot whose name was…TC! Which means in the pro wrestling multiverse, these two could well have lived in Hawaii together solving crimes.
Also, I hate multiverses. Am I the only one?
So Hall comes out as The Diamond Studd, chewing on a toothpick that he flicks at the camera. Where on earth have I seen that before?
And make no mistake, this Diamond Studd is in almost every way a prototype for Razor Ramon. He even has the curlycue hairdo! The one thing I am very sad that was dropped in his transition to being Razor was this here promo here he explained that all children should be just like him. Not shocked that “It’s Studd time!” didn’t get over though!
So the Studd rips off his pants to the squeals of the girls in the crowd. I remember very clearly being at a WWF show in the mid 90s where Razor showed up and some girl a few seats down from me sounded like she was having the big O just looking at the guy. Guess that’s what he was the STUDD and I was just some geek in the crowd.
So the match starts with a mighty lock up as Hall tosses Carter in such a mighty fashion he has no recourse but to take a flat back bump! Now THAT’s a lock up!
The beating continues as TC grabs a side headlock and again, Hall just flings him aside. This is simple stuff, but it looks so effective and I can’t believe no one has stolen this stuff in wrestling today.
We get some kicky punchy that ain’t worth bandwidth to capture, but this belly to back suplex off the second rope sure is. Hall is just dismantling this geek with ease and it’s a joy to witness.
Soon enough it’s time for the finisher, the dreaded Razor’s Edge. No wait, that’s the Diamond Death Drop which is a WAY better name for that move. Gotta love how Hall also spread his arms before applying, again, just like Razor. Other than ripping off Scarface a bit, this is more or less the exact same character. Say hello to the bad guy indeed!